Meet Nyela
In the midst of the pandemic, I’ve had the opportunity to work with small business owners who are determined to succeed. Their grit and determination to not only weather the storm but come out stronger is an inspiration.
Nyela emailed me after looking at my website and said she wanted to talk. She’s a conductor, pianist, coach, and founder of the Trusted Alliance Masterclass Series – to name a few. She is determined to continue her work as a musician in a time when live performances are rare, and many musicians are struggling.
Her body of work is impressive. Her two-decade career encompasses over 1,200 performances as a conductor and pianist and that has taken her to Lincoln Center, rural Louisiana, Chicago, Sarajevo, Rome, Scotland, and Uruguay. Nyela has led Masterworks, Pops and educational concerts with the American Symphony Orchestra (in Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Halls), the Sarajevo Philharmonic, the Virginia Symphony, the Toledo Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Springfield (MA) Symphony, the Shreveport Symphony, the Massapequa Philharmonic and the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale.
She has collaborated with Renée Fleming, Peter Schickele, cellist Elizabeth Anderson, pianist Jeffrey Biegel, and violinist Zina Schiff and recently led the European premiere of Jacob Banck’s “Lumen” with Daniel Paul Horn as pianist. She has also conducted theatrical productions with Chicago’s Music Theatre Works (The Merry Widow with Stacey Tappan), El Paso Opera, Chamber Opera Chicago (at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Operafestival di Roma, Voices of Change in Dallas, Little Orchestra Society of New York, and Opera Tascabile. She conducted Dominick Argento’s “Masque of Angels” at Perkins Chapel in Dallas on the occasion of Mr. Argento’s 70th birthday.
Maestro Basney was Assistant Conductor and Chorus Master for 14 productions with the New York Grand Opera. And in the middle of a world crisis, Nyela thought of the many musicians who are getting creative to survive. She got to work, offering custom aria piano tracks at a steeply discounted rate, encouraging individuals to keep going, and offering tips on a virtual audition season. Her wealth of knowledge and willingness to share is a touching demonstration of the human spirit.